Cause Marketing Resources: Best on Twitter Today

Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that allows twitterers — those who use the service — to send and read messages called tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the user’s profile page.

You can learn a lot about cause marketing on Twitter, the following criteria was used to pick the top five people you should follow on Twitter:

Real people as much as possible. Twitter is all about talking to people not talking to logos, brands, and billboards, and he suspects you won’t either.

These people tweet . . . a lot. There’s a big difference between being on twitter and being active on Twitter.

Cause marketing is a focus. But it’s not their only focus. Chris Noble talks about his other business dealings in China. Noland Hoshino chats away about his daily workout. And John Haydon is, well, just being John. In short, don’t expect talk about cause marketing 24/7.

Follow them and multiply. The good thing about all these people is that when you follow them, they will lead you to many, many more new followers and open new paths to learning.

The following list covers cause marketing’s top ten tweeps (twitter peeps, for those of you not well-versed in twenglish):

Twitter.com/JoeWaters: Joe Waters is not only an expert in cause marketing but also a well-regarded blogger and a coauthor of Cause Marketing for Dummies (Wiley). His blog. SelfishGiving , is the No 1 cause marketing blog in the U.S.

Twitter.com/Causeaholic: Steve Drake is an expert in cause marketing for associations. His signature program, Trees for Troops, has delivered thousands of trees to U.S. military bases around the country and the world. Steve shares his insights on his blog Causeaholic and 501connect.

Twitter.com/NolandHoshino: Noland Hoshino is a passionate cause marketer who is CEO and cofounder of [B]Cause Social Media Communications in Portland. He’s on the cutting edge of cause marketing and social media — when he isn’t volunteering and dressing up like a cow for his favorite charity: Heifer International!

Twitter.com/CFNoble: Chris Noble is what every cause marketer wants to be when he grows up. Chris is a talented cause marketer who’s focused on the technology behind giving. He’s worked with some of the biggest names in business and has raised millions for good causes. The four brands of his company — Kompolt, WhatGives!, StudioGood, and Patron — are cause leaders. And you can learn about them all by following Chris and his business partner Joey Leslie (Twitter.com/jleslie).

Twitter.com/JohnHaydon: John Haydon is not a cause marketer, but he’s an excellent cause marketing follow on Twitter. Here’s why. John is an expert in social media for nonprofits — especially Facebook — which is becoming increasingly important for cause marketers. When John does come across a topic that’s relevant to cause marketers, he does a great job connecting the dots.

Each Twitter page has a short bio of the user, a link to its website or blog (usually), and a number of followers and tweets since they signed up for the service.